HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! 

“MOTHER: THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WORD ON THE LIPS OF

MANKIND.” - KAHIL GIBRAN

THE KRAUSE-SAM

FAMILYMEET YOUR NEIGHBORS

DENEVE, CARL AND CANYON

A n E x c l u s i v e P u b l i c a t i o n f o r t h e R e s i d e n t s o f S o n o m a R a n c h • M a y 2 0 2 0

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Army involuntarily for 4 years for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Carl remembers this as being some of the toughest years of his life with deployments and time away from home, but the experience and ex-posure to di!erent cultures was the most rewarding. Coming back to a real estate market that had crashed, and a newfound appreciation of just how good we have it in this country, gave Carl a new direc-tion. He finished his degree in Environmental Science remotely and ultimately responded to Deneve’s invite to join her in Las Cruces. “January 17, 2010 was the day I pulled into town in my rundown jeep and everything I owned in the back of my trailer!” Carl said.

Carl did real estate work for the Bureau of Land Management for 4 years and real estate work for 4 years for White Sands Missile Range after arrival in Las Cruces. Due to government cutbacks, he was o!ered and took an early retirement from government service in 2018. “It was nice to get back to residential real estate and work closely with people,” Carl said.

Both Carl and Deneve served in the Army in the early years after arrival in Las Cruces; serving together as Military Intelligence O"cers at the Space and Missile Defense Command in Colorado Springs. Deneve left the service in 2012 to give full focus to other ventures including work for the Forest Service as an archeolo-gist. Carl retired from the Army in 2014 after serving with a unit in El Paso that was focussed on providing Humanitarian Assis-tance to various countries in South America. 

Carl got his New Mexico real estate license in 2018. At the time Deneve was conducting background investigations for the Office of Personnel Management. Both of them worked from the house at this time. Carl remembers the day in July 2019, while both of them were quietly working at home, Deneve saying “I want to do what you’re doing!”

It was a quick and easy decision and Deneve would get her real es-tate license shortly after. Becoming a real estate agent is something that Deneve always wanted to do. Throughout her life she would go to open houses and model homes with her mother and grandmother just to “see the new home trends” as her grandmother would say. 

“In 2019, we started Las Cruces Home Team with Enchanted Sun Realty. I believe that we work best when we work together,” Deneve said. The two pride themselves on honesty, integrity, loyalty, and hard work. “While we both agree that providing high-quality service is extremely important to us, we find the focus on developing quality relationships with our clients to be just as significant. Our work is a blessing. Being able meet people right where they are, no matter the phase in life, and helping them transition to the next chapter of their life is something the two find infinitely rewarding.”

Finding time to relax is a bit challenging with a 4-year-old but they wouldn’t change it for the world. Admittedly, they spend much of their o! time chasing around their son telling him to “get o! this” or “stop climbing on that.” But when they do get to escape for some

Carl Krause and Deneve Sam are your neighbors and are Realtors with Las Cruces Home Team and Enchanted Sun Realty. They have a son - Canyon plus two dogs, two cats and 3 chicks. “Our two cattle dogs are named Kiva and Maggie, and our cats are Zachary Binx and Scrabbles. We have three chicks named Fire Nut Donate, Chick, and Elly May Clampett,” Deneve said.

Deneve grew up in Orange County California during a time when there were still orange trees, strawberry fields, and parking spaces down at the beach. She spent most of her young-er years on the sandy shores o! the Pacific Coast Highway. 

Carl was born in a small town outside of London as his father was in the Air Force; his mother from England. Carl spent many of his younger years in England and Germany but he also had the unique experience of residing in several states due to his father’s military assignments. 

Deneve received her undergraduate degree from the California State University-Fullerton. Upon completion of her degree she moved to Las Cru-ces to obtain her master’s degree in Anthropology with an emphasis in Archaeology from NMSU. Carl was much slower at attaining his degree! He attended several colleges part-time over the course of decades, including NMSU, and finally attained his degree in Environmental Science with Thomas Edison State University in New Jersey. Both feel that a significant part of their education came outside of formal college. Among other things, Carl and Deneve were both Military Intelligence O"cers in the Army. In fact, the two met while attending a military course in Sierra Vista, AZ.

Carl remembers first seeing Deneve standing by a salad bar in a small town in Oklahoma - she was in full military uniform and her last name of ‘Sam’ was quite distinctive. Oddly enough, they didn’t meet at this time but would find themselves sitting next to each other the following year in a course they both attended in Sierra Vista.

Carl and Deneve moved to Las Cruces in 2010 be-cause they fell in love with the desert environment after spending several months in Sierra Vista in

2009. Deneve was living in Southern California at the time and Carl had just moved from South Carolina up to Washington State to be closer to his mother after his dad’s passing. “We just fell in love with the open desert and the mountains and the great weather,” they said.

Initially they lived downtown next to the farmers market - which they thoroughly enjoyed. However, once they drove into Sonoma Ranch they knew that they had to make it their home. They moved from downtown and bought their current home in Sonoma Ranch in May of 2011. 

“One of the things that really attracted us to the neighborhood was the diversity of neighborhoods within the entire Sonoma Ranch area - there’s really something for everyone. The rolling hills, moun-tain views, parks, amenities, and access to public trails were also a plus,” Deneve said.

Deneve worked for the government, in various capacities, for 16 years. Her time spent in government included roles as an archaeologist, a back-ground investigator, and an intelli-gence o"cer. She loves the outdoors and the di!erent cultures around the world, something that helped draw her into archaeology and anthropology. She was able to do internships with the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service shortly after their arrival in Las Cruces. One of the first projects she worked on was ac-tually in the Sonoma Ranch neighbor-hood. The project involved conducting archaeological surveys on the land in which the Law Enforcement o"ce on Sonoma Ranch Blvd now resides.

Carl enlisted in the Army right out of high school with the desire of returning to Europe. He left the Army after about a dozen years and pursued the real estate profession in South Carolina. He worked real estate for several years, but was ultimately called back into the

meet your neighbors

CARL KRAUSEDENEVE SAM

CANYONAND THEIR SON

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fun time, the three of them enjoy vis-iting national parks and monuments, taking weekend getaway trips, and hiking in the Organ mountains. They also enjoy being in their backyard with their pets and just hanging out. When the weather is right, you will find them on the grill, enjoying the weather, and working in their garden. 

“We love this community and the numerous organizations that have missions that serve those struggling, as well as those that try to make our community better for the youth. We always wish we could support more organizations. For 2020, we are donating a portion of the proceeds of every home we sell to two di!erent organizations that have a positive im-pact on our community, especially the youth in our community. One of the organizations is an NMSU Campus Ministry, and the other is YoungLife. We love the mission of both of these organizations. In 2019, we were the signature sponsor for the Touch-A-Truck event in Las Cruces, an event that supports a local Mother’s Group but also provides the youth in the community exposure and apprecia-tion for the di!erent organizations in the community - and lets the kids get on the di!erent trucks. In 2019, we were the top sponsor, along with Virgin Galactic, of the Las Cruces Space Festival. We believe this week-long event to be very important to the community as the economic impacts that space-related activities are going to have on our community is going to continue to increase. We have contin-ued our sponsorship for the 2020 Las Cruces Space Festival.”

Deneve currently serves on the leadership team with the Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) - a wom-en’s ministry at Morning Star UMC. MOPS is a Christian organization focused on women and mothers. 

Canyon is involved in swimming, loves ninjas, and soccer. He is definitely a fearless boy and a social butterfly. 

“We love the rolling hills, the walking paths, and the convenience of amenities. The neighbors are great, and the friendliness of the people we pass on walks and around the neighborhood is one of the reasons we decided to call Las Cruces home. We work with people from out of state all the time, and we constantly hear from them of how shocked they are about the friendliness of the people here. Noth-ing beats the ever-changing colors of the Organ Mountains, and the stunning sunrises and sunsets we get to enjoy from our back patio. Watching the Organ mountains change colors throughout the day from our back patio is one of our favorite past times. Seeing neighbors pass by on walks and on bikes is very charming to us. We enjoy the peace-fulness that area has to o!er,” Deneve said. 

FavoritesActivities/Hobbies: as a family we enjoy hiking, visiting national parks and monuments, and spend-ing time with friends and family. Gardening and crafting is also something Deneve enjoys. Park/Play Area/Hang Out: Sagecrest Park and drip-ping springs. We also enjoy having the green space in our backyard and visiting nearby friends. Restaurants: we pretty much live at Renoos Thai Time up on US70. Fantastic, flavorful, and perfectly prepared Thai food. Vacation Destination: Ramsey Canyon in Sier-ra Vista, AZ. This is truly a hidden gem and is a beautiful oasis nestled between the desert and the mountains. This is one of the first places we hiked together after meeting in 2009. Hummingbirds, wild turkey, deer, and peacocks roam the land and can be found in abundance. Ramsey Canyon has a special place in our hearts. We named our son after the wonderful place - Canyon Ramsey Krause. After hiking in the canyon, they take a drive down to Tombstone and eat pizza at Big Nose Kate’s.Sports Teams: Huge MLS soccer fans. Go Seattle Sounders! TV Show/Movie: we pretty much stick to a few channels: the History Channel, food network, HGTV, and Hallmark (Deneve only). Music: We know nothing about music created after 2009. Anything before that we pretty much know all the lyrics. Our style is very diverse and we enjoy most all genres of music. But truth be told, we actually enjoy a quiet atmosphere at home and while driving. Family Dinner: I guess you can say that various pasta meals are our go-to. Canyon loves picking herbs from our garden and putting them in the sauce. It’s easy, fun, and is a meal that we can all take part in.